2016 has, thankfully, almost run its course, which means that it’s time for film critics coast-to-coast to compile their end-of-the-year lists. Unlike others, however, I can’t profess to know what the year’s ‘best films’ were, because I haven’t seen enough of the contenders. With time to take in only 500 or so films a year — many being older films I’m catching up on (or revisiting, such as The Battle of Algiers) — it would be an insult to my readers’ intelligence to suggest I really know what’s best.

Over the last few decades the term ‘film noir’ has been increasingly misused. Where once it represented a distinct type of story – one in which the central character finds him or herself trapped in a predicament not entirely of their own making – it’s since been applied to routine police procedurals, gothic thrillers, and any film (especially those filmed in black and white!) with a suspenseful and tricksy plot.

Wildlife documentaries used to be fun and educational diversions: while watching cute animals frolic in the wilderness, you also got to learn about the magical ‘circle of life’ that made all that frolicking possible. Well, unless it was a Werner Herzog wildlife documentary — then you got to see the food chain in action, up to and including human beings. But I digress.